Global Warming Changes Fish Behavior

Animals will not only die if they remain in regions affected by global warning, they will not know what they are doing. Research shows that rising carbon dioxide changes the behavior of fish.

Carbon dioxide makes the acidity of ocean water rise. Like humans, fish rely on nerve cells to "perceive" the environment they live in, like detecting hot and cost, pain or painless. They also have to rely on environmental cues to behave in a particular way. Fish smell predators so they normally move away from them, but high acidity in the water makes the smell attractive. Small fish move too close to predators, so they are easily caught and eaten.

Fish behave this way due to their nerve cells trying to maintain a balance with the environment. With a rise in carbon dioxide and acidity, bicarbonate and chloride levels rise inside nerve cells, so a feeling of security is not turned off by the smell of predators. A switching chemical, GABA, becomes irregular opening nerves which suddenly release all of the bicarbonate and chloride. This causes dramatic changes in fish behavior.